Hi, I am trying to grasp what a WPATH letter looks like. So my medical provider is trans doctor so she already knows how to write the medical letter. For reference I’m in Maryland.
My question is about the mental health part of the letter.
-Can any licensed therapist write the letter? I have a therapist who specializes in OCD and we don’t discuss gender but we do have good rapport
-Can my psychiatrist write this letter? Or does it have to be a therapist?
-Who am I giving this letter to? The surgeon or the insurance? Or do these people take care of the sending?
-Do I need these letters before my initial consultation or can I go ahead and make my consultation before I get all the letters?
Thank you. All the paperwork stuff is hard for me and I want to make sure I do it right. I wish it was as simple as a doctors appointment.

i'm new to reddit and this is a new account so i'm not sure if i should add an nsfw label or spoiler because i don't really know what it means, but TW anyways. basically i'm s3x repulsed and i get awful s3xual intrusive thoughts and it has ruined my life. it basically started when i searched up the plot of an inappropriate novel on wikipedia and i hovered over a word i didn't understand and the text that popped up was kindly accompanied by the most horrific image i've ever seen. i won't go into detail about what it was but there are people on reddit who seem to think that it's completely normal. it might be because i'm extremely oversensitive. but ever since then i've been plagued by disturbing explicit images. i sit there ruminating over them in school and imagine detailed "what if" scenarios to "make sure" that i don't secretly like them. it's gotten to the point where i'm completely desensitised to them and sometimes it even feels like i like them. today in school i was ruminating over them when i suddenly got a huge flow of positive emotions towards an image that i found extremely distressing and i had to run to the bathroom where i just sat there and silently screamed the pain away because i was convinced that i wasn't s3x repulsed after all and i was in fact a perv who was just in denial. i'm actually still worried about it now even though 4 hours have passed since then. i used to imagine disgusting scenarios to bring me anxiety and distress so i could use it for "proof" that i didn't like it, but in fact it just made me feel even worse and now it's been going on for 4 months i'm completely desensitised and now i'm worried that because i don't feel anything anymore and sometimes i feel like i like it, it means that i am "in denial" (it turning out to be denial is my worst fear) and even though i know deep down that it is not, everytime i remind myself that they are just intrusive my brain bombards me with "what if" questions. ocd has now changed my brain to the point where i am bombarded by "what if" questions about the most random things. for example, if i see a disturbing image and feel distress, my mind immediately tries to convince me that i didn't feel distress, and it was a false memory and in fact i liked it and i was just using a feeling of distress as a coping mechanism because i'm in denial. or when i see a random object my brain immediately finds a way to twist it and make it s3xual. or when a random person walks past i think "what if you are attracted to that person". or literally any opinion i have, no matter how much relevance it has to my intrusive thoughts, my brain still tries to convince me that i have the opposite opinion and i went through a mild identity crisis because of it. i have a therapist that i talk to about these thoughts but i just refer to them as "disturbing thoughts" even though she sometimes asks me what it exactly is about so she can be better help, and i know that she would be able to help me unpick it better if i actually told her, but i am deathly afraid of mentioning the fact that they are s3xual because i can barely even say the word to my friends and it would make everything awkward. i find that most people's intrusive thoughts are about violence or relationships (they are still completely valid ofc, and they are awful) but i rarely find anyone who has specifically purely s3xual ones that come from a s3x phobia. is there anyone else who can relate? i hope i'm not the only one.

I posted this guide on the Tracer main subreddit and thought I should also share it here since it was perceived pretty well, and it's especially relevant now with the new DPS changes lol. So for a bit of background, I made this guide after recently getting back into the game (played a bit on console when it launched). After hitting top 2k in Val late last year, I came back to Overwatch hoping to play something new. Since then, I've sunk in around 250 hours into the game, with the majority of it going towards Tracer. After struggling a bit I started watching a bunch of guides and coaching videos to get a hang of her playstyle. Rank wise, I currently hover around high diamond to low masters, with the hopes of hitting GM by the end of the summer. Please let me know if there's anything I should change.

The Basics:

This section pretty much just covers the basics of Tracer's kit and how you should ideally use it. A lot of the info in it comes from Spilo and Kajor's intro guides on Tracer. So if you think you're experienced enough you can probably skip this.
Pulse Pistols

• Trigger Discipline: Try not to continuously fire without readjusting your aim. It's good to sometimes fire in bursts, ensuring that all your bullets hit and that you're not wasting ammo (which can be especially bad due to Tracer's long reload animation).
• Crosshair Placement: You should fix your crosshair on the enemy's upper chest area as to maximize the amount of damage given her spread.
• Engagement Technique: When engaging an unsuspecting target, don't start shooting immediately after seeing them. Most hero's out-range you in terms of damage, so it's best to get closer using cover to shorten the distance before attacking.

Blink

• Usage: Primarily used for dodging attacks and repositioning during engagements. Efficient usage involves playing around terrain to conserve blinks and maintaining at least 1.5 blinks for flexible manoeuvrability.
• Blink Melee: Hitting melee before your full blink animation lets you put in some extra damage when trying to finish off a low-hp target. Conversely, hitting melee after your bink animation lets you hit further away targets at the expense of the full animation time.

Recall

• Usage: Recall serves as a last-resort escape mechanism. You should use it to exit unfavourable duels, regenerate health, or gain a bit of time to regenerate your blinks.
• Strategic Planning: Try and use the recall animation to plan your next move, particularly in regards to where to blink to avoid reentering danger.

Pulse Bomb

• Damage and Usage: The pulse bomb deals up to 355 damage and takes up to one second to detonate. A common technique is to blink immediately after throwing it for surprise stick (blink pulse).
• Target Priority: While tanks have a larger hitbox, pulsing squishies (weaker characters) is recommended for guaranteed kills. Also keep in mind any potential abilities that may cancel out your pulse.

Kevster Principle

• Distraction Over kills: Getting kills is less likely when the enemy is grouped up due to the team being able to provide for each other. In such cases, the value isn't in eliminating opponents but in distracting them. Engaging the enemy in a way that forces them to redirect resources (attention, cooldowns, positioning) away from the main fight can be more beneficial than securing a kill (your stats may not look amazing but know you're still providing a lot of value!).
• Maximizing Team Impact: By drawing attention, a player can create openings for their teammates. For example, while a Tracer might not kill an enemy, causing multiple enemies to turn and deal with her disrupts their formation and effectiveness, allowing her teammates to capitalize on this disorganization.

How To Engage:

In order to know when and how you should engage, you have to understand space. Space refers to the area of the map that a player controls or influences through their positioning and or actions. Controlling space allows the player to dictate engagements, force enemy movements, and create opportunities for advantageous fights.
How to Take Space

• Positioning: Use positions that offer tactical advantages, such as high ground or areas that provide good sightliness while offering cover.
• Timing: Engage or move into space when the enemy is distracted or weakened (e.g., after they've used key abilities or when they're low on health).

When to Give Space

• Resource Management: If low on health or abilities, it's best to retreat/give up space temporarily.
• Strategic Retreats: Sometimes, pulling back can lure enemies into unfavourable positions or stretch their lines, making them vulnerable to counterattacks (this would require a lot of team coordination though so your mileage may vary). Withdrawals aren't just about avoiding death; they're about repositioning for a more advantageous attack or to regroup with teammates.

Flanking

• Knowing your environment: Once you have an understanding of giving and taking space, constantly keep in mind what space the enemy is trying to take from your team. Knowing that allows you to pick the best route in order to flank backline. A10 breaks it down well in this timestamped video here.
• Flanking Tactics: As a flanker, you should avoid running directly into enemy sight lines or advancing into space the enemy intends to occupy. Attacking from angles helps reduce direct confrontation for both you and your team, as the enemy would have diverted focus.

Target Priority:

It's super easy on Tracer to just tunnel-vision on a single target. While this can be useful at times, it can often detract from your effectiveness in a team fight.
Understanding Target Selection

• Avoid Fixation: After engaging a target and either winning the small trade or forcing them to retreat, quickly reassess your surroundings rather than continuing to fixate on that single target.
• Flexibility in Targeting: Instead of sticking exclusively to targets like backline heroes or snipers, it's good to adapt based on the unfolding game dynamics. OWL coach Wizard Hyeong refers to this approach as, "The Playboy style", and it involves quickly shifting focus among multiple targets based on their vulnerability and threat level.

Strategies for Effective Target Selection

• Seeing More: Increase your awareness of your surroundings rather than just the opponent directly in your crosshairs. Doing this lets you better spot opportunities and threats, making it easier to know when to engage or disengage.
• Choosing Better: Select targets should be based on multiple factors such as
  • HP: How low are they
  • Cooldown usage: Are they low on abilities (fade, kiri tp, etc.)
  • Positioning: How close are they to cover
  • Isolation from their team: Is the player alone (either due to a numbers advantage or bad positioning)
• Thinking Broader: Understand the macro aspects of the game. Recognize when to pressure certain targets based on your team’s composition and win condition (e.g., focusing divers if your team is poke-heavy).
• Coordinated diving: If your team has multiple dive heroes, it's best to try and dive the same targets when possible. If you can't go in on the same target, the next best thing is to dive/pressure the nearest squishy.

Zero improved odds to obtain the hero you want until you summon a legendary that isn't the one you want (33.33 heliolite pulls on average) is an absolutely shite structure. Zero 'blessing' until you've blown 33 dice already (with only a slight odds adjustment through 66 dice) is greedy trash of the highest order.
In a pool of 9 legendary heroes under a given banner, the obvious inference is that you will need summon 9 legendary heroes to expect 1 of them to be the blessed hero. So the question is: how many dice do you need to roll 9 legendaries under this ruleset?
After you fail once, you get twice the initial rate to summon a legendary hero per heliolite dice roll.
I take this to mean you now have a 6% chance to roll a legendary in the summons pool, so you need to roll another 16.67 dice on average for another 11% chance to obtain the blessed hero.
When you fail for the second time, 89% of the time, you now have a 4 times rate, or 12% chance, requiring another 8.33 dice.
When you fail for the third time, 89% of the time, you now have a 10 times rate, or 30% chance, requiring 3.33 dice.
When you fail for the fourth time, 89% of the time, you now have a 20 times rate, or 60% chance, requiring 1.67 dice.
When you fail for the 5th through 8th times your odds remain 20 times initial rate or 60% chance requiring 1.67 dice for each, or 6.68 dice for these four rolls in sum. Plus 1.67 more for the 9th roll.
Altogether the total number of dice required to roll 9 legendary heroes = ~72.
Note that rolling 9 heroes only gives you an Expected Value of 1 to roll one of them in particular, and you can very easily need to roll 18 heroes for example (like needing to flip a coin 4 times to roll heads once, with the EV of heads being 1 in 2 flips - this is not especially improbable). In this example you would need about 15 additional dice for another 9 legendary summons.
Ironically, if you do get to 20 times rate after summoning 4 legendary heroes that are not the 'blessed hero' you would hope to continue failing in order to maintain this rate as long as possible.
The point is, however, that a 'blessed summons' requires about 72 dice on average to get the hero you're targeting, which is about $313 using $100/8000 gems available in the shop as a reference, where 8000/350 = 3.13 purchases.
Yes, you will acquire other legendaries along the way, but it is still a ridiculous proposition when targeting one hero in particular.
I would suggest starting at double rate with a pity of 2 failures guaranteeing the 3rd pull to be the 'blessed hero' as a solution. Alternatively, they could simply limit each hero in the pool to being summoned once, thereby increasing your odds after each failure to 1 of 8, 1 of 7, etc..

Hi, I live in the UK.
I first spoke to my gynecologist about a year ago about having my tubes tied/removed. They had a board meeting, spoke to me over the phone and denied my request. They said I might regret it.
I'm in my late 20's and physically disabled. I'm also autistic. Now I'm not saying those with disabilities shouldn't have kids but for myself that's not an option. I need daily care in most aspects of my life. My condition is also genetic and being autistic I also need support and struggle with any change in routine, loud noises and things like that. I don't want a kid and my partner doesn't either.
I understand I could just use birth control but there's several medications I could try to help that would stop it working so I haven't been able to try them.
When I was denied I tried to fight the decision. They said no because I'll regret it and to see a genetic counsellor (even though I know the risks) and the local health clinic.
I wrote to the health clinic and they said I'm of sound mind with a concise argument and I understand what I want and the fact it can't be reversed. This still didn't change the mind of the gyneclogist.
So I went to my GP and wrote a long letter and they've referred me for female sterilisation at a different hospital and I see them in June.
As it come closer (I know it's a while away but I struggle with needing to feel like I'm more in control of a situation as so much is out of my control) and I'm anxious about how to explain how I feel. On paper I can explain it well but I struggle to explain how I feel out loud and if they ask questions I wasn't expecting.
It's hard to get this under the NHS but according to the NHS if you have a medical condition that can be passed on (mine is 50/50) then you could be approved for it under the age of 30. I'm now 29 so I'm getting pretty close anyway.
So my question really, has anyone been in a similar position of being physically disabled and/or autistic and fighting to have their tubes tied/removed. I want to push for removed due to healing issues I have and I create a lot of scar tissue so I think removed would stop any chance of not working.
What did you take to an appointment? How did you explain that you don't want to worry about getting pregnant that why you want tubes removed. I want some body autonomy and know I don't need to worry at all about pregnancy as I already struggle a huge amount. My partner cares for me and I don't understand why they think I'd regret not having kids.
The ridiculous thing was they said they'd help with IVF treatments if I needed it but they wouldn't agree to sterilisation. Both are pretty permanent so why is one better than the other. Anyway any help and advice would really be appreciated as I get a bit anxious and want to be prepared.
Thank you!

Yeah I know it’s probably going to get a lot of flack for my criticism, but I really think the creative team at starkid has the ability to make a bonafide smash of a musical.
We’ve seen before they can come up with ingenious original concepts for musicals with shows like twisted (which is better than Aladdin) and TGWDLM (one of the greatest original musical ideas ever imo).
They are surprisingly good with serious moments and weight. The whole “not your seed” section is surprisingly serious, tragic, and nuanced, “Made in America” is a great critique of American consumerism (especially the speech before it), and the emotional core of twisted is incredible.
They write banger songs that can get surprisingly complex (cup of roasted coffee) and diverse. They are easily good enough for broadway when you compare their stuff to crap like dear Evan Hansen.
And finally, they have shown the ability to balance farce and weight (hatchetfield as a whole) enough to where a lot of their concepts still work and aren’t taken too seriously.
Despite all of this, all but one of their musicals has been difficult to recommend to the general crowd compared to shows like west side story, little shop, and Sweeney Todd because of one thing: the “starkid-isms”.
To me, a starkidism is when a character says something crass completely out of the blue for shock value that takes you out of the scene. It worked great in their early parody musicals because they were almost purely parody comedies and it was funny hearing Harry Potter say curse words and talk like a sailor. Now, as they try to write things more seriously, they still add in those random crass moments, but at the cost of taking everyone out of the scene and being completely unrealistic for any person to talk like that. For example, in TGWDLM’s title number, where the characters all point at him and say “piece of shit”. Like why was that over the top line necessary? Or in join us and die when they “were gonna kick your ass and then we’re gonna fucking kick your ass”
And no, I am not saying all potty/outrageous humor is bad, as there are several times where it works. For example, the Djinn in twisted was executed perfectly to show the outrageousness of random pop culture references in 15th century agrabah. Or hidgens calling the Alexa a “fucking piece of shit” because it fits the moment so well.
As said earlier, there is one musical that they’ve made that I think can be popular with a general public because it doesn’t have any “starkidisms”: VHS Christmas Carol.
VHS Christmas Carol is still hilarious like their other musicals, is very tightly written, has a strong emotional core, and does not have any random out of place lines written just for shock humor. Because of this, it ended up being one of my favorite adaptations of a Christmas carol.
Overall, I don’t want to see them completely get rid of their starkidisms permanently, as that level of internet humor is integral to the group’s identity, I just want to see them do more full musicals while holding back on the random potty humor that doesn’t fit the moment.

First / Previous / Next
Riven grimaced as another torpedo exploded far too close to the tiny vessel, she was aiding what was left of the Alandran crew through the retreat from the Oort Cloud. Three chaff torpedoes left, after that, they would be defenseless. “Shields down to twenty five percent Captain. I don’t think we’re going to make it to the planetary defenses.”
Captain Jan’Inar gritted her teeth and tapped on the arm controls of her command chair, “Engineering, tell me we have the ripple drive back up?” There was no response from her request.
“Captain, the chief engineer is dead, and the ship is so riddled with holes and fires I doubt communications are reaching engineering.” Riven said with a sigh. Then was forced to launch two chaff missiles towards the four enemy missiles that were bearing down on the Rivendell with monstrous acceleration.
The torpedoes attempted to corkscrew around their interceptor, but their dim AI’s were no match for Riven, who detonated the bomb pumped masers through the defractors with millimeter precision over three kilometers away, reducing them to slag. “We have one chaff torpedo left Captain, no ripple drive, half the crew is out of the fight.”
She watched as Captain Jan’Inar looked down through the floor monitors, the hulk of the Isengard was three hundred kilometers in the Z axis. “Riven, get us to the Isengard, use whatever maneuvering is necessary.”
Riven shrugged internally, she didn’t see how getting to the wreck would help, they were still ahead of the last two Trinar scout vessels, but hiding amongst the wreckage wouldn’t help. “Aye Captain, making for the wreck.”
A giant explosion appeared in one of the starboard monitors, one of the ones that wasn’t flickering off and on that is. “What the hell was that?” Jan’Inar asked Riven.
It took her a mil to process the incoming data, half her external sensors were either gone or malfunctioning. “That was the Trinar cruiser’s reactor exploding from nearly five light minutes away, the Missive managed to take her out, but she’s heavily damaged.”
Looking in the forward view screen the wreckage that was once Isengard was coming up fast, “Captain, we will arrive at the wreckage in twelve seconds, what do you want to do?”
The Captain sat back in her chair and answered, “Take us under the wreckage and put it between us our pursuers. Force them to go around the wreckage, and when they do, use the last chaff torpedo to hit one of the four fusion reactors of the Isengard.”
Riven smiled, that was Alex level deviousness. Also, quite a problem, three ships on different vectors, one near stationary wreck, and then the torpedo itself, which isn’t designed for precision, more like a shotgun blast. She cranked her frame-rate to maximum and her ship VR faded to just raw windows. Even at her maximum processing speed the calculations took agonizing milliseconds.
“Firing chaff torpedo three now!” The heavily damaged ship shuddered a bit as the last torpedo roared from its launch tube. It took nearly three seconds to reach the wreckage and detonate, an eternity to Riven. She watched as the bomb pumped masers sliced through the containment bottle, releasing the hellish energy and pressure at the heart of a star.
The explosion turned the wreckage into atoms, then lanced out in a sphere engulfing both Trinar ships in white hot plasma, obliterating them in the maelstrom. Then the shockwave from the explosion lashed out into space in every direction at the speed of light. The Rivendell was struck from behind, the ship staggered, her torch drives melted, and the lights went out.
_________________________________
Kara ended the simulation, both Alandran ships returned to normal operating duty. She opened up a channel to both Captains, letting Izzy and Riven broadcast her report to the crews. “First the good news, the enemy fleet was destroyed and the Missive and Rivendell survived to fight another day. Now the bad news, the Isengard was lost with all hands, which could have been avoided if you both stuck together and allowed your point defenses to overlap. All this means we’re going to be running another simulation tomorrow.”
She could hear both crews groan at the announcement before she continued, “I will be providing Riven and Izzy with the battlefield data, I expect you all to spend the next few hours going over where you could do better.”
Then Alex’s face appeared on all monitors in both ships, “We beat them this time, but I won’t be satisfied until we beat them every time. Go over the after action reports, come up with some new ideas, and get some rest before we tackle this again tomorrow. Also, I want to congratulate the crew of the Rivendell for lateral thinking.” Then the monitors all reverted back to their normal duty.
Alex looked over to Kara, “They’re getting better.”
Kara nibbled at a chip, “They’re not getting better fast enough. We know what we’re dealing with when it comes to the Howron ships, but the Trinar as you’ve taken to calling them are still a complete mystery. They may be even more dangerous than we’ve extrapolated them to be.”
Alex rubbed the back of his neck, “And they may be far weaker than we think, look, we can only do the best we can. We can’t really fault the Isengard crew, they’re even greener than the Rivendell.”
Kara nodded walking around the buffet table, “I’m really worried Alex, we have three ships at the moment, two of them with new crews and new AI’s. The forth will be online in a week, and I need to start focusing on producing and training a new AI.”
Alex held her lightly around the waist, “Getting the forth ship and it’s AI up is more important than these simulations, I’ll deal with them, you do what you do best?”
“Play Mother to everyone?” She asked?
Alex grinned down to her, “Well someone has to be the adult around here, and it ain’t gonna be me.”
She looked up to him, “They listen to you more than you know.”
“Poor kids.” He said as he leaned down to kiss her.
Kara spun away from his embrace and went back to the holo-tank, “Speaking of adults, it looks like we finally received an error free scan of Kel’Taraan’s mind.”
Alex came up beside her to look into the holo, it showed the docking area where the ships repair crew would normally be housed during refits. In the common area sat the Stasis pods with Kel’Taraan and Mon’Kelron, the former of which had received the medical nanobots that would repair her internal damage while she stayed in stasis, they were nearly done repairing the damage.
He turned to Kara, “Have we finished constructing the matrix yet?”
Kara shook her head, “Four failed attempts, today will be attempt number five, I’ve slowed down the print head on the auto factory to it’s lowest rate, in a few hours it will be done, then I have to put it through pass/fail checks and cross my fingers.”
Alex sighed, “Yeah, they told me about the hardest thing for an auto factory to make was the print heads for another auto factory, something biological, or a replicant matrix. Makes sense that we’d have difficulty now, as we build in space, not a sterile lab environment.”
Kara swiped at the holo, showing a video of the construction process of the matrix. “If this one doesn’t work I may have to build a lab around an auto factory and provide the gravity and sterile environment, these things take forever to construct.”
Alex studied the table for a snack, “Oh, you think we may have more matrix’s to build in the future?”
Kara looked over to Alex a little exasperated, “Once the genie is out of the bottle, I expect we may find we need to make quite a few of these.”
He rubbed his chin in thought, “We’ve asked Kel’Taraan to keep the knowledge of replication secret, I’m pretty sure she’ll do so.”
She looked back at him shaking her head, “You know as well as I do that something like this won’t stay secret forever.”
Alex nodded and sighed as he looked down, “Yeah, you’re right. Something will slip, intentionally or unintentionally. Best plan for it in the future.”
“And that brings up the next question, what do we do with Mon’Kelron?” Kara asked.
Alex looked at Kara a bit confused, “We let the medical nannites finish working on her and we keep her on ice until we can drop her back off on the planet.”
Kara shook her head, “No, that will stir up even more suspension in the Alandrans, who already think we are mysterious. She needs to be let out for observation or something before we put her back into stasis.”
“Well, you’re busy getting the new AI up and running and getting the matrix built, I’m busy with the simulations, Riven and Izzy are running ships and working with crews, that leaves Monty. Where is she anyways?”
“Personal project, she’s been working on a particle accelerator model that will be easier to build around the first planet, using material from the first planet.” Kara answered.
Alex frowned, “How would that work? We need an accelerator large enough to circle the star to make the exotic materials we need.”
Kara grinned, knowingly, “Remember that this universe is more energetic than our original universe? Monty figures that she can get by with one that encircles the first planet at twenty thousand kilometers and with about fifty loops around the accelerator we can get the necessary velocities to create the required materials.”
“Okay, so a smaller accelerator, we figured what, a century out to get one built around the star, how long will this take?” He asked.
Kara shrugged, “We had to make an estimated guess, but since the supply line would be vastly shortened by harvesting the planet with mining drones we figure two to three years before it would be operational, assuming we move one quarter of all mining drones to the first planet.”
Alex nodded, “Much more feasible. However, you haven’t mentioned probable yield.”
Kara sighed, “Yeah, less than a tenth what a proper accelerator would produce, but if we use most of the production for manufacturing nannites and substitute other materials for armor or hull we could still build some of the heavy cruisers you have the prints for.”
Alex looked down to the table and found some boneless buffalo wings, snatching the small bowl and cradling it he commented. “Well, three and a half years to build the first heavy cruiser isn’t too bad. Granted we have to build a full sized shipyard in that time frame as well. We aren’t going to churn one out in the scaled down models you two came up with.”
Kara nodded, “Already on the production schedule as well.”
Taking a big bite out of the buffalo wing, Alex sent Monty a message. “Would you be so kind as to join us at the buffet table?”
Monty faded in beside Kara, “What’s up with the big guy using all formal messaging?” She asked.
Alex swallowed, “What? I can be elegant and shit too you know.”
Monty rolled her eyes, “There’s the Alex I know. I’m assuming you need me to do something boring?”
Kara answered before Alex could make another quip. “We need you to baby sit Mon’Kelron for a bit. She needs to think that she is inside the ship so she doesn’t think anything strange is going on, particularly with Kel’Taraan.”
Monty tapped her chin, “Um, the hanger bay where they are being stored is separate from the rest of the ship. Only our two androids are located there in pods, how do I explain that she can’t go beyond that point?”
Alex spoke up while Kara was trying to come up with an answer, “Simple, you tell her she is in quarantine on board our vessel, let her know you have been decontaminated but it’s a long process and I’m too busy to go through it right now.”
Monty nodded, than smiled, “Can I wear a cute nurses outfit?”
Alex shook his head, “Fine, just sell her on the story and keep her occupied while she is under ‘observation’, then get her back into the stasis pod.”
Monty did a salute that was fairly close to an insult and faded out.
________________________________
Kel’Taraan awoke suddenly, there was no slowly drifting into consciousness, it was as if she had been startled awake. Looking around she saw only darkness, where was she? Was she dead? Were the humans unsuccessful in turning her into a replicant? Then she saw light, just two glowing blue eyes at first, then the silhouette of a petite woman brown hair down to her shoulders.
Then the rest of her faded into view, she wore a uniform similar to what all Humans wore, more practical than formal. Then she spoke, “Hello Kel’Taraan, I am Kara, it is nice to finally meet you.”
“It is nice to finally meet the legendary Kara. This must mean the process worked, what will happen to my old body?” She asked
Kara brought up what looked like a cylindrical hologram and was touching icons, the world around her faded in to what appeared to be a comfortable house. “It was destroyed before you were activated, otherwise you would not be the closest continuer, but a mere copy of yourself.”
Kel’Taraan was a little taken aback, “Closest continuer? Why destroy my old body?” She wasn’t sure why she should care if her old body was gone, but for some reason she did.
Kara finished fiddling with her hologram and it faded away, now they were sitting in a quite nice cottage, complete with a fireplace and bookshelves full of leather bound books. “Short answer, the No-Hiding theorem states that like matter or energy, information can neither be created nor destroyed, simply moved or transmuted. The information that made up ‘you’ cannot exist at the same time that your replicant was activated or you would be two different people with the same memories.”
Kel’Taraan nodded, “So to ensure it would really be ‘me’ who awoke, the original vessel had to be destroyed to ensure only one copy of the information was available?”
Kara nodded, “Correct, although it is much more complex than that, and still under some debate, that is the reigning theory of closest continuer.”
“So what do I do now?” Kel’Taraan asked.
Kara smiled, “Now we start training you on how to be a replicant. I have given you a private virtual reality environment, it should be close to the little cottage in the picture frames in your room.”
Kel’Taraan looked around and found that it was very similar. This was the cottage that she and her Emmet had looked at purchasing so long ago. She reached down and rubbed the ornate leather chair she was standing behind. It was only at this moment did she notice she was not hunched over, her back did not hurt, and she needed no cane.
Looking down at her hands they were without wrinkle or age spot, the skin was soft and taunt. She looked around and found a mirror by the front door, and in it she barely recognized the face, it was her, nearly four centuries ago.
“How?” She asked as she turned back around to Kara.
Kara summoned some keldaran hot tea and two small cups on the coffee table before sitting in the other leather bound chair by the fireplace. “Our spy devices in the palace found pictures of you when you were young, we extrapolated a three dimensional form for you to inhabit here.”
Kel’Taraan nodded as she walked back to the empty leather armchair, she noticed her hair was blonde once more, no longer silver. Sitting down she looked at the beverage choice, “Fair warning, that stuff tastes like battery acid, I have no idea how the Empress drinks it, could I try your coffee once more? It has been so long!”
Kara grinned, and waved away the Alandran style crockery and replaced it with a coffee pot and two coffee mugs, along with cream and sugar. Pouring a cup for Kel’Taraan and offering cream and sugar, which she accepted and raised it to her face to inhaled the aroma. “This brings back memories.” She stated, tearing up a bit.
After taking a sip of the Human brew she sat it back down on the coffee table. “I suppose since I am in the company of Humans once more you find our naming schemes a bit aggravating?”
Kara shrugged, “It doesn’t bother me, although Alex wishes he could shorten your names from time to time.”
Kel’Taraan nodded, “The first Human crew called me Kelly, I think I would like to go by that again.”
“Kelly it is then, I’m sure Alex will be pleased.” Kara stated while taking her own sip from her coffee.
They both sat there for a moment, just enjoying the silence and the beverage, before Kara spoke up. “I want you to get comfortable here in your cottage, if you want I can help you change your VR environment at any time. You probably don’t realize it yet but you and I are operating at millisecond resolution at the moment.”
Waving her hand a small menu appeared before Kelly, showing her how the frame-jacking system worked. Kara continued, “I’ve given you access to this menu, and more will follow in the next day, which can be as short or as long as you choose.”
Kelly thought for a moment, “So at our default frame-rate, a single millisecond lasts..” (11.57 days) A slider appeared above the frame-jack menu.
Kara nodded, “We all experience time differently than biological creatures, we can experience lifetimes in days, or we can stretch a single day into milliseconds.”
Kelly nodded, “Seems like I have a lot to learn.”
Kara put down her coffee cup, “That you do, and for that reason you have this library, inside these volumes are the culmination of Human knowledge and culture.”
Surprised, she raised an eyebrow, “Doesn’t seem like a lot of books compared to the Imperial library on Alandra.”
Pulling the first tome off the top shelf she handed it to Kelly, “Open this.”
Taking the amazingly immaculate leather bound tome she opened it and her mind was awash in chaos. Words, symbols, numbers, letters, ideas, constructs, abstractions and so much more flooded her very essence. Then it was gone, replaced only by a floating bar above the now closed book. It stated, “IMPRINTING INFORMATION 2%”.
Looking up at a Kara she whispered, “What just happened?”
Kara sat back down and crossed her long legs, “You just downloaded the contents of that tome, several yottabytes of data, now your matrix has to make sense of it, hence the imprinting information bar. I will leave you now to consume the contents of this library, after that you should have the basics of everything you need to know about Humans and our technology.”
And with that Kara faded out of Kelly’s VR space. She looked down at her book, 6% complete, this was going to take a while… or was it? She smiled and reached for her frame-jack slider.
_____________________________
My Patreon, or if you really like my work, my Ream

This is my first time writing anything like this about my life so I'm sorry if it's too long as there's a lot to unpack and I want to just lay everything out to get the best advice to help my decision.
I come from a family of 6. There was me, my mother, father and three sisters. I'm the youngest and there's an 8 year gap between me and my sisters, who only have around a one year gap between each of them. Growing up it was always World War 3 in our house with them as when they were in their teens the three of them shared a room. The sister in question, "Sarah", is the middle in age of the three, "Winifred" the oldest and "Mary" the youngest.
Sarah has always been the least like any of us, we're all very different, both in personality and looks, it's been pointed out multiple times by friends how different we all are from each other, but Sarah has always carried an air of superiority I've never seen in the rest of my family.
The one trait me and my siblings share would be we all have/had put ourselves first, which can be a good thing but can lean into selfishness pretty easily, a problem that plagued my personality until I met my husband who helped me see the difference in putting myself first and being a selfish AH.
Sarah has never been the type to let anything go. She always brings up things that happened when my sisters were teenagers (they're all in their 40s now) along with embellishing or completely fabricating things that have happened that make her out to be completely blameless. She retells these story's over and over until she genuinely believes them and then throws a tantrum when one or more of us correct her. I remember arguments Sarah would have with my parents that always ended up with her storming out of the house, she tends to run away from problems.
Sarah and my mother have never seen eye to eye. In many ways they're too similar, always need the last word, headstrong, never apologizing, the need to always be right and they obsess way too much about what people think (in different ways, Sarah cares about how people/ strangers perceive her and her families manners/ social status and success, my mother is particularly obsessive on people knowing details about her personal life and is a very private person). It's always been my view that Sarah has always lacked my mother's warmth and her honesty (mostly to a fault but she would always try and spare someone's feelings and bite her tongue when she really needed to). Sarah's name calling about my other sisters was always a main spark to her and my mothers arguments.
Her and Winifred got on well for the most part from what I remember, and when we all got older she was fine to talk to. There were even a few times when my father was sick, myself, Sarah and Winifred had some bonding time which was nice.
Several years ago Mary was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia ( severely effects her central nervous system, can cause wide spread pain and can easily cause fatigue) and a few years ago she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She had a full hysterectomy and the cancer seems to be a memory but this still wasn't enough for Sarah to not belittle Mary and her, what Sarah calls "life choices". Mary has struggled with her weight since she was a teenager and Sarah never held back in letting her know her opinions on it.
It's common knowledge in our family that Sarah has always been ashamed of where she comes from and would always be embarrassed by how my mother and Mary acted and spoke (little filter and Sarah considers this candour and how they speak "lower class" ). Mary has always Sarah's verbal punching bag, both to her face and behind her back but has always disliked when people, mainly my mother, would call her out and tell her to stop. The most recent example of this I was told about was that at my wedding, she made a nasty comment about the dress Mary was wearing. Months later my mother mentioned it in an argument to Sarah that her sister (my aunt) overheard Sarah's remarks and made a disapproving face. Sarah apparently just walked away from the conversation. The next day my aunt called my mother and asked that she "not be involved in my family's drama". My mother, confused asked her what she meant and my aunt said that Sarah drove (1.5 hours) to her house to confront her about it even though it happened just short of a year before.
For years our father had been desperately trying to get my mother to agree for them to move and downsize homes so they could enjoy their retirement with a little extra money but she was extremely reluctant to leave the family home due to a combination of leaving happy memories behind and being afraid of such a big change.
Then one day, Sarah offered to give up some of her land for them to live on as a cheaper option. I think we all agreed it was a good idea and we were all so surprised by what seemed to be generosity, it blindsided us all and we mistook it as her turning over a new leaf. Our father was all for the idea as him and Sarah agreed it was good to be near family in their golden years.
I replay my parents asking my advice on this over and over in my head, as in hindsight it was obviously an awful idea. But like Winifred and Mary, I agreed it would be the best move.
Their original idea was for them to get a tiny home and have it about 100 yards from Sarah's home. Sarah entertained that idea for a short while but convinced them a built small property attached to their home would be better.
The family home was nearly 2 hours drive away from Sarah's home so her and her husband took charge with contractors and overseen almost anything to do with the build if my parents couldn't make it.
The first quote, pre-build, they received was 50k. But in the end it tripled into 150k. Over the course of the build Sarah had changed things, the location of the front door, which was now facing the window to her home office (which is her main place of work), and back door, which changed to face the back of Sarah's house ( I know this all seems like major red flags but again, her and her husband convinced them it was to do with not damaging parts of her property and what seemed like other valid reasonings).
Cut to the house being built, selling the family home and them moving in, it wasn't long until our father became ill. First we noticed his memory wasn't as sharp as it was, then he had difficulty driving and had to stop completely. It was around this time and slightly after the sale of their house Sarah started pestering him for a loan. He told me this himself, at first it was suggesting they bring everyone on a big holiday, then it was saying it would be nice to give all their kids 20k and how it would be nice to see us enjoy it. She eventually wore him down and he loaned her 20k, I'm assuming to get her off his back. At some point after she booked a trip to New York, brought 2 suitcases, one of which was empty but came back with them both packed full. I know it was her business what she wanted the money for but even if it was for a shopping trip she could have had the decency to conceal it a bit better. She promised him time and time again she'd pay him back. He never seen a penny. Previous to this he offered Winifred the same amount as she was going through a divorce and it would have gone to a house for her to move out, she thanked him for offering but turned it down and said she'd be ok. She didn't tell him that it was because she thought it wasn't right to accept money from him knowing he was sick as he was a very proud man.
My father was the best man I've ever known. Incredibly down to earth, very open and friendly and could make friends at the drop of a hat. I remember a couple of vacations when we were kids. Thousands of miles from home he'd bump into old friends of his.
He was the kind of person who rarely got a cold so his decline was obvious to everyone. It was a year of being misdiagnosed until he was finally correctly diagnosed with stage four liver cancer, which had moved to his lung and towards the end, a part of his brain.
His last month was the worst time of my entire life. The arguments, the tears, My mother and one of my sisters (I can't remember who) caught covid so we had to juggle who could be where. It was also the first time in nearly 20 years all of us were together for longer than a day.
Myself and Winifred were lucky enough to have bosses that were very understanding and adjusted our schedules so we were given the month off to be with our family.
As I said Sarah works from home and sees clients from her home office. She maintained her regular work schedule while we were all meters away. I understand that was her choice but it seems like odd while our father was literally wasting away in his bed, especially since she works for herself so has a pretty good control of when she can work.
Our father was such a strong person. Every palliative nurse that came were more and more taken aback with each visit that he was still with us.
We all said our individual goodbyes and promises to look after each other when his condition had advanced too much not to, and the next morning, he passed.
He had a special relationship with all of us and things Sarah has said since his passing leads me to believe she thought hers was the only one that mattered.
The funeral ceremony was quick (as per his wishes). We elected Sarah to be the one to give the eulogy as the rest of us have anxiety issues with public speaking, but we read what she was going to say a few days before the ceremony. I was the first one to read what she wrote and noticed a bulk of the corrections were changing "My Dad" to "Our Dad", I wouldn't have mentioned it but there were even times even in conversation I would correct her on this, it may seem insignificant but it's just something that really bothered me. I mean when siblings talk about their parents to each other is normal to just say "mom" or "dad" to each other.
There was light food and drinks in a local bar afterwards. As there were so many arguments the previous month between Winifred, Sarah, Mary & my mother, me and my husband were really the only people making conversation with her and her husband, apart from the odd distant relative or two. A week or so later Sarah flew off to New York, something she tried to conceal from my mother but she forgot she mentioned it to her almost a year before. There was yet another huge argument between Winifred & Sarah when Sarah thought Winifred told my mother this big secret. This is another trait Sarah and my mother share, forgetting they say things and to whom. When asked why she was so mad if my mother knew she was going away was something along the lines of "Because I didn't want to give her any ammunition use and tell everyone at the funeral". My mother is a chronic complainer who has never seen the bigger picture in social situations, but she knows better than that. Plus she had just lost her husband of 46 years who was also her best friend of 50, something I think Sarah will never see
The last two years without our father have not gotten any better, Winifred was diagnosed with breast cancer, started chemo, then discovered it has spread to her other breast, all while looking after 2 teenagers with CF and going through a divorce to a deplorable human being who seems to take pleasure in making her miserable. When Sarah heard the news of the divorce she offered to attend court with her, Winifred told me she yelled at her and her representation for not saying enough in court and then later told my mother "I only helped her because she has cancer".
When going on vacation with her family Sarah told my mother days before there departure and I later found out her children caught chicken pox but she took them on the plane anyway. My mother does not drive and there is no stores that are easily accessible for her.
Sarah was also diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in her colon. Both have had treatments and they seem to be on the mend.
The relationship between Sarah and my mother did not get any better in fact Sarah's partner Billy became a reluctant go between for them both.
After our father passed, my mother asked Billy could her utility bills be altered as she was still paying half of everything, even though there was four people in their house (2 kids) and she was now on her own. His response was no and that her and our father agreed to split utilities evenly. We advised my mother to organize a pre-pay electric meter for her part of the house so she could manage it properly. Shortly after, Sarah and Billy stopped using the jacuzzi they recently purchased as it was too expensive for them to run.
One month my mother paid €400, the next month €200, 2 months later it was €500, there's no way a pensioner living on her own could rack up half of those bills (The average household here only gets their oil refilled once every 3-6 months). She also bought a free standing gas bottle heater in her main living area and had her upstairs radiators were turned off to try and limit the usage as she never really went up there. I will add that Sarahs business requires a somewhat constant use of energy so even a 50/50 split of bills seemed unfair. Since our fathers passing, my mother would also spend days at time either with me, Winifred or Mary, but she paid it anyway just to not have any arguments.
She made one small payment of about 4% of the total 20k to my mother before our father passed and laid out a payment plan to her about how much she'd pay each month. There were no further payments. A year later Sarahs family dog got seriously ill and needed a surgery that would cost 1300 and asked my mother to lend her this money & my mother, being soft hearted loaned it to her. She did make an attempt to pay my mother back but again, one small payment was made and no more. Each time my mother brought up the money she'd brush her off and not speak to her for a while. The longest was 3 weeks with zero contact, and remember, she lived right beside her and my mother doesn't drive and it would be impossible for her to walk to a store. If it weren't for Myself and Winifred constantly checking in my mother would have just rationed the food she had. We had suggested to arrange a food delivery in the past but Sarah and Billy didn't want strangers to know the code for the gate to the property, but knowing she hadn't spoken to our mother for 3 weeks and didn't care enough to ask if she needed anything in the store forced my hand to arrange one anyway.
Everything that's happened with Sarah has made us seriously re-think everything she said has happened in her life, and a pattern we've noticed is that she's pushed away all her serious partners family from them. Her first serious boyfriend of 7-8 years, then her ex husband and her current husband Billy. First it would start with their mother or sisters, small squabbles at here and there, then on a weekly basis, followed by a giant falling out which would result in her partners only seeing their family on occasion and eventually cutting contact. At the time we all took her at her word: their mothers didn't want their sons taken away, they were rude, they were jealous of her independence etc. But seeing her push us all away and seeing the same thing happen to us we all feel incredibly foolish.
Sarah has done and said some pretty horrible stuff over the years. I can't remember specific times or dates and some may seem trivial but these ones just stuck with me:
- When Winifred was fighting with my mother over something trivial, she suggested "keep your kids away from her (my mother), that will hurt her". She's always used her children under the guise of care anytime they had a disagreement, to try and manipulate the argument in her favour. On several occasions my mother would wave to them playing outside or walking by her window and they'd rapidly put their heads down as if being scolded, so god knows what Sarah has ben saying to them. While we were helping my mother was move out, my niece came inside and she was in tears because my mother was not there for her birthday a few weeks before. She asked her why she didn't come out to her, why she didn't see her on her birthday and asked why she was moving and if she still loved her. Taken aback when she heard this she said of course she told her she loved her and she always would, she told her once she has a phone she could call her every day if she wanted, she explained she needed to be somewhere she could go grocery shopping and have things close to her home. I wasn't thee for the whole interaction but when my niece left my mother said the things my niece said were things Sarah had said to my mother in the past verbatim.
- Bringing her kids on a plane to vacation while they (1 or both I can't remember) had chicken pox.
- Casually mentioning to my mother about money she has left from the sale of the house and what pension she’s getting and how much (some of my mothers post had gone missing)
- She once ran away from home when she was a teenager for several weeks because my parents gave her an 11PM curfew
- Always passing comment and keeping tally about how much her or her children received for birthdays or any kind of milestone event (most recently my aunt gave her son €30 and it was the first thing she mentioned when she talked about my aunt not staying until the end for her sons birthday, something along the lines of "€30? What can he buy with that?" He just turned 12 and we only see this aunt a couple of times a year. (Also I give all my nieces and nephews that amount for birthdays and Christmas so hearing this made me re-think all her past thank yous)
- Decades of berating Mary and putting her down, always about her weight or the way she acted (hyperactive, no filter etc)
- Admitting to Winifred that she decided to build a barrier at the end of her patio to make my mother take a less direct route and, in-turn, from "looking into her house" when she needed access the trash, but told us all it was a wind barrier. My mother has always preferred to keep her own blinds shut so she's usually adamant on not looking in other peoples houses.
- After divorcing her first husband my parents took her in until she had somewhere to live. Sarah was insistent on compensating them and our father eventually accepted as she wouldn't let it go. Months later during a heated argument she said they never cared for her, to which they argued that they recently asked her to live with them after her divorce, and without missing a beat she replied calmly "you were well paid for that"
-While our father was in decline he wasn't very verbal and his motor skills weren't the best, one time she brought her and her family out for waffles, she posted a photo of them in the car, and on inspection I noticed he is holding a knife, backwards trying to eat, I still think about this photo regularly because it just angers me that she mostly wanted to be seen taking care of him, without first seeing if he was even able to eat. She documents almost every activity her and her family do, which is fine, but it really calls into question if any of it is for the sake of the activity and trying to capture the moment for her family to remember, or just to be seen doing it. Another instance of this was each morning if it wasn't her turn to stay up for the night shift, the palliative care nurse would arrive Sarah would bring everyone breakfast, but if the nurse wasn't there there'd be nothing, which I know she didn't owe anyone and I shouldn't expect good deeds from people, but she'd also be in to see our father much later those days.
- Once my parents moved into the house, not a week had passed and her and Billy would say things such as "you know we're not your carers so if it comes to it you should have something arranged" and there was always snide comments about how they built their property on her kids play area, suggesting it was an inconvenience and big of her to let them build but I don't think she's ever thought how my parents chose to spend their retirement years with her and her kids. Both my parents had told me this and we were all appalled.
- While our father was unconscious towards the end, my mother just asked Billy about an additional €5 on her utility bill. He said the internet went up and my mother either just asked when or that she didn't know it increased. He left and then 20 minutes or so later, Sarah marched in and loudly exclaimed something like "Do you think Billly is a thief or something?!". This could normally be passed off as a somewhat regular family argument, but it was generally agreed between all of us that my father could still hear us. There were certain reactions when my mother would speak to him, or when I played him his favourite songs, so her choice to start a fight about this with our dying father inches away still infuriates me.
- My mother was an avid gardener, but when she got to Sarah's land she only allowed her to have 4 plant pots at the back of the house. So many times I remember waking up with her already outside, she'd have her visor on with dirt on her clothes waving to me in the kitchen. I've been asking her what plans she has for her garden now it's taking a lot of encouragement from the rest of us for her to get back into it now she has the space.
- When me and my sisters were alone while my father was sick, we were talking about my mother and how she would cope with life when my father passed. He was responsible for everything, bills being paid on time, insurance etc. Her finances came up and Winifred asked the room if she'll have enough coming in to live off. Sarah, with a combined covetous and grudging tone I'll never forget, listed off payments my mother would be getting and ended with a " so she'll be fine" and then scanned the room for our reactions. I immediately responded with "Oh thank god, I was so worried she'd be struggling", shocked by my relieved response she stared at me for a couple of seconds and then shifted to a softer tone "Oh yeah she'll be ok" then changed the subject. I know this is conjecture, but I know my sister. Her repeated mentioning of my parents money and her general obsession with how much people have, I know she was hoping for us all to join in on what I know would have been an acquisitive rant.
- Close to our fathers end, I could only bare to be at the top of his bed. It was too much for me too look at him. This shell of a person, who was so strong in life was now half his body weight and all my family in agony around him. When it got too much for me I'd ask someone (occasionally Sarah) to sit with him while I called my husband for support and to help me through it. I later found out she brought this up against me and said I was a wreck and kept running off and my sleep breaks were too long (I stayed up for 24-30 hours at a time so I was the only one to sleep more than 5 hours). Who is she to monitor how anyone grieves. She could go into Billy whenever it got too much so she had her support system right there.
I'm sure Sarah is a good mother to her children, as they're both always so happy and care free, but Sarah sees the rest of us all as this big stain on her life she's more than happy to wash out. She's said this in some form of another several times to my mother over the past few years, "I don't need any of you, I have my family, they're there for me". I've never been the most involved in all of my sister's life, but I always make sure to never miss a Christmas or birthday for them and I always send money or buy gifts for her children, I've sent her flowers when she was unwell and when she received her diagnosis, but with everything she's done even the idea of keeping up the pretence of civility puts a bad taste in my mouth.
My mother has recently bought a new house and looking at her it's like a light switch has turned back on. I haven't seen her so relaxed and happy since my father was alive. The years living on Sarah's land she barely decorated and never really got comfortable. But the same day of moving in the first thing she did was put up one or two stuffed animals and other trinkets. Our mother decided to keep buying a house a secret to not cause an argument with Sarah as it was too draining and Sarah would make an argument out of anything my mother said. When she had signed the papers she decided to message Sarah to tell her she was leaving (Sarah had decided to not speak with her at all and for months had only spoke to her through Billy, but if my mother was outside while Sarah was with a client she would wave and say hello to her) her response was very nonchalant with a "that's your decision" all of us expected a huge reaction as it was the norm.
A part of me thinks maybe this was her end game all along, not speaking to my mother, not helping her with groceries and never having time to knock on her door to see if she was even alive. Sarah's last words to my father while he was unconscious were that she was going to try and make it work with my mother and my mother promised the same. With 2 kids and a business to run she's always so busy so any text messages my mother would always sign off with "I'm her if you need me, you know I'm always here" and varying ways to let her know the ball was very much in Sarah's court. Myself, Mary and Winifred all have been visiting my mother from hours away so I don't know why she expects my mother to be the one walk 15 meters to her front door, one time my mother tried and she was greeted with Sarah's arm literally blocking the doorway to stop her from coming in. It's my view that Sarah's last words to my father were a complete and utter lie to him, a lie she can never take back or explain and I hope it haunts her.
The way Sarah has acted and the things she has said since my father’s passing it’s obvious she has warped the memory of who my dad was and it couldn't be more wrong. Being the youngest, quiet, and sort of on my own a lot growing up I was always a very observant person. My father worshiped my mother, they were best friends, did absolutely everything together, he always took her side about everything, every argument, every situation, he was her number one fan and it never faltered no matter what, they were always a united front. I know he would be incredibly ashamed and appalled of what Sarah and Billy have put my mother through, squeezing her for every penny, being incredibly cold and not even feigning that they care, although through outside sources she's painted a completely different picture, to which my mother and sisters have used pain remover each and every time. To Sarah, she lost her father and her father only. She is starting chemo soon and sources say things are looking better for her health wise but I'd still like advice.
Thank you.

I know a couple who has given their children all ‘clever’ Jewish names. As an example, they have a daughter Ayelet Shachar as in a reference to ‘Ayelet HaShachar’- the gazelle of dawn/morning star mentioned in Tehillim.
The reason for the title is they’ve just had the Simchat bat for their daughter and her name is Ashira Leah. (Lee-a. Not Lay-uh)
I was trying to think about what the ‘catch’ was. Not really the right word but I hope you understand what I mean.
The thing I came up with is ‘Ashira La’Hashem Ki Gaoh Ga’ah’ So then I was thinking maybe the Leah isn’t לאה but instead ליה. As in prefix Lamed meaning ‘to’ and suffix meaning Gd.
Purely for my own name nerdiness, I guess I’m wondering if anyone has heard of the name Leah being used like this, as opposed to Leah the matriarch. I know I haven’t. I really hope I’m right because that would be so cool imo.

Not talking about exclusively about who is going to end up with who, but also some kind of shifts in the world of Prythian itself.
I’m personally hoping for some kind of internal liberation movement in either the Hewn city or in the Illyrian lands. Storywise characters in the IC always refer to Illyria as a backwards hellhole and the Hewn city as some kind of brooding place of evil where no good can ever exist. It would feel like a huge missed opportunity to me if a character like Balthazar, who shows us that not all Illyrians are the way the IC believes them to be, would just be left out like that. I also feel like the IC has essentially sentenced all kids in the Hewn City to become ‘evil’ under their parents influence, while Morrigan, as the prime example of this not having to be the case if they receive a way out, is standing right next to them.

Comment if you have other resources, blogs, youtube channels, or posts that I should include.
Phantom time

• ! archive Fomenko New chronology complete set
• ! Glitch in the matrix or parallel of history
• !A synopsis of Phantom Time theory in my own words. A short introduction to the work of Anatoly Fomenko
• The world fairs were used as an excuse to demolish America's ancient architectural heritage.
• Ottonian Empire vs Ottoman Empire. The truth about the Siege of Vienna and when did the Roman Empire really fall.
• The Star Fort conspiracy. Some star forts are called "Batteries" why is that?
• The little known "Woman's holocaust" was part of a larger cultural genocide in the 16th and 17th centuries when the old knowledge was wiped out.
• Renowned brain surgeon Dr. Leonard Shlain stumbles into the cultural layer by accident and gives up medicine to become a historian when he realizes our history has been stolen. \(Skip intro 2:19\)
• The mysterious origin of Saint Petersburg. Impossible engineering marvels prove our history has been stolen.
• The linchpin of why phantom time exists. No old books exist! Only dishonestly copied and "corrected" books are used to support the official history. When genuinely old books surface they often contradict the official history and are ignored by the mainstream historians.
• [Introduction to the world wide culture that used to exist prior to modernism that was subsequently deleted by historians. \(Sylvie Ivanowa narrator\](https://www.reddit.com/CulturalLayecomments/7zvfri/introduction_to_the_world_wide_culture_that_used/)
• The Fate of the "1000 cities of Bactria," Kingdom of Buddhist Greeks. Probable gap in history. Kingdom mysterious disappears only to reappear under a different name when 1,748,000 people died in one hour according to some legends.
• Scythian/Bactrian gold
• American Scythians
• History's greatest con job: the life of Genghis Khan is a work of fiction largely made up by one man named Baavuday Tsend Gun in 1908
• Origins and Spread of the Mongoloid Race
• [Sir Isaac Newton: The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms, Amended \[PDF\](https://www.reddit.com/CulturalLayecomments/8569t4/sir_isaac_newton_the_chronology_of_ancient/)
• The oldest "clock" in Britain at Wells Cathedral could prove phantom history true.
• ! New Chronology by Nosovskiy and Fomenko Philipp Druzhinin
• ! The cemetery of "longevity" In Turkey ...

Anomalous Soil Accumulation

• Gondola unearthed at Lucknow’s 220-year-old Chhatar Manzil
• The cultural layer above more thousand years Roman villa has grown by only a meter, while the cultural layer of the century and a half building has grown by several meters
• "The chapel provides evidence of Myra’s swift entombment. If the sediment had built up gradually, the upper portions should show more damage."
• Bauman Street, Kazan Russia
• The original streets and houses can be found under present-day Prague *Istanbul Gate Nicaea
• Buried bridge Orel Russia
• Mosaic floor city of Er Rastan Syria
• Buried Barcelona \*
• ! Apocalypse of the 19th century. The true story of genocide
• the post catastrophe world of Piranesi
• Scratching the surface of the Indian "Cultural Layer"
• The full US capitol building exposed.
• Deadwood Underground
• How Shakespeare Drained Venice- The Merchant of Venice contains not a solitary reference to gondolas or canals, and nor does Othello * [Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha, Coimbra, Portugal - c1954 vs now \(Excavated\](https://www.reddit.com/CulturalLayecomments/c72qkh/monastery_of_santa_claraavelha_coimbra_portugal/)
• ! [Anomalous Soil Accumulation \(Large album\](https://www.reddit.com/CulturalLayecomments/b8sqw5/anomalous_soil_accumulation_large_album/)
• "Polytechnical Museum" Moscow
• Grant street Hump District excavation:Pittsburgh "1900s"
• Buried Russian Churches; A Look Inside
• The Whitehouse is buried in the cultural layer. On August 24th 1814 Washington DC was sacked by the British and then saved by tornadoes. The storm buried the Whitehouse in mud up to the 2nd level.
• What is under the Washington Monument? An ancient structure resembling a Mayan Pyramid. It was excavated in the 1800s and buried under cement.
• The Arch of Septimius Severus
• Buried Copenhagen part 1
• mudflood in grand rapids michigan
• mud flood in ann arbor mi
• mud flood in holland mi
• In case you're curious, this is one of the ways they employ to sink buildings. Turning the ground into a kind of quick sand and the weight of the building just pulls it down. W their earthquake weapons I imagine they can make entire cities go mudflood.
• Soil accumulation in Ancient Sardis, Turkey - From an excavation in 1911 - (credit: u/Philipp-Dr and Stolenhistory.org - links in comments)
• a collection of capriccio paintings
• Officially In the 13th century people poured 7 meters of dirt over the whole of Prague. Should we do the math? Where is the logic?
• Greek Floor Mosaic uncovered in 2014 in Turkey near Syrian Border
• 4 albums containing hundreds of examples showing an anomalous build up of soil and the necessary re-modeling.
• Moscow in early 1800's oil paintings , everything is overgrown with vegetation
• Napoleon in Moscow paintings
• The Town of Rockwell, Texas
• ! At some point in time, possibly between 1875 and 1905, Chattanooga built up its roads and abandoned the first stories of the buildings in the downtown of the city, turning them into basements. Today, no one knows exactly why or how it happened
• Old Bayfield County Courthouse, Wisconsin built c.1896
• Chichen Itza
• Castle filled with dirt
• Unburying Rome - Italy
• Observing the cultural layer of the Ipatiev House \("Romanov murder house"\)
• Cincinnati, Ohio, Eden Park, old resivoir walls.
• Church of St Sofia, Bulgaria
• Mysterious tunnels discovered in Florida
• Mud flood in the 19th century?
• Omaha Mud Flood: St. Mary Magdalene Church 1920 transformation
• Ancient rail-road tracks unearthed
• An interesting take on the history of canals and "train" Tunnels: Could they hint at something greater?
• "A side walk, curbing and all, found several feet under the surface"-Asheville North Carolina (repost)

Egypt

• Change my view: The floral wreath found in king Tuts tomb is not 2000 years old.
• The Great Tutankhamen Hoax
• til; aerial photography is illegal in Egypt.
• Graffiti and chronology of vintage Egyptian photographs

Europe

• ! Were wars originally more similar to a sports event?
• The Medieval London Bridge \(the one with all the buildings on top of it\) being destroyed. Notice the megalithic blocks?
• Bank of England in ruins by Joseph Gandy
• [The language of the Roman Empire](https://www.reddit.com/CulturalLayecomments/8jtv93/the\_language\_of\_the\_roman\_empire/)

Asia

• Discussion; is Japan as we know it a fabrication?
• Utsuro-bune
• Ainu/Japan general discussion

North America

• Thousands of years ago a 'Mystery Culture' dug a massive network of tunnels, cavities, and chambers beneath the city of Teotihuacan. The exact purpose of this ancient underground system of tunnels and chambers continues to elude scholars.
• A man takes very close look at a wall.
• Megalithic structure in Jersey City is 6 times wider than the great wall of China and weighs more than the Great Pyramid in Giza
• The ethereal staircase of Loretto Chapel
• The mysterious helix staircase of the Loretto Chapel in Sante Fe, New Mexico; allegedly built by a mysterious man in the 1870s from an unknown species of wood with no nails and without any obvious means of structural support)
• Toronto
• What do y'all think is goin on with the top of this building?

Russia

• Anomalous Polygonal Masonry in the small town of Chusovoy , Sverdlovskaya District, Russia
• Bathtub \(granite: 196 cm, 152 cm, 53 cm\) m made for tsar Alexander I, Russia 19th c.\[705x555\]
• ! In a bombed out shed south of St Petersburg lies the Tsar bath, weighing nearly 100,000 lbs and standing 6 foot tall it is perhaps the largest single granite work outside of ancient Egypt.
• Moscow 1867 -- Where are the people???
• The empty streets of Saint Petersburg in the 1860s - where is everyone?
• Finding hints in the official narative. "Garðaríki"

American civil War

• Is General Robert E Lee dead in this 1865 photo
• American civil war strangeness continued

People/Pseudo characters

• General Robert E. Lee astride
• In 1819 English academic Richard Whately wrote a book questioning the Napoleon myth.
• Fake Rasputin
• What in the ever-loving fuck is going on with this photograph?
• TIL: Richard Wagners Grandson Wieland claimed that he was molested By Hitler

Archeology

• Çatalhöyük and international relations
• Archaeologists uncover ancient street food shop in Pompeii
• How ancient Greek columns were made: photographer Bonfils inadvertently filmed the technology of building ancient columns by ancient Athenians
• [Hagia Sophia is built on the foundation of an older temple, that is built on the foundation of an even o older temple.
• Year AD J775 ?? Year J788 ? Gravestones in a cemetery in Stratford, CT
• Is it or only me or this structure looks like the frame of an very modern building?
• Mexican temple of Santiago, master builder monks and our failed archaeology

Architecture

• ! "Antique World". Alternative title; "Grand unified architectural style"
• Grand Unified Architectural Style: Antique Africa
• Our architectural heritage restored to it's former glory only after the retreat of the Reds from East Germany.

Technology
* Cast-iron flooring in ancient temples.
*The Autoped was an early motorized scooter *! Embed Metallurgical technology that allows create medieval knight’s armor appeared in the industrial era
*! Is it possible free energy was once a reality ? Or another form of energy transfer at least?
* Interesting analogy
* Free energy capacitors in Bangladesh
* Mohenjo Daro nuclear strike, just not 3000 years ago.
* Mechanical fish and swan from the 1700s in simulated water of moving glass. Such intricate craftsmanship we cannot reproduce today. The people of the past were much smarter than us. This is technology from the phantom era historians erased from existence. * Despite the general consensus antique corsets were and are not oppressive torture contraptions, but instead highly technical devices that correct posture, and positively effect spine heath.
* We have been lied to about the capabilities, techniques and reasoning of our ancestors.
* 439 year old reservoir dam, outlasts its modern counterparts
* Lets talk about classical architecture. And other global architectural phenomenon, polygonal masonry, impossible craftsmanship, and strange metallic elements
* Steel staircase? Encased in marble?
* Why London Underground is nicknamed "The Tube"
* The electric city of the 1800s. What powered their electric cars?
* Granite polygons of Kronstadt \(not a single structure within the city is built with granite\)
* Vorontsov palace, window frames hewed from a single piece of ultra hard diabase stone using crude iron hand tools?
* The medici lions at Vorontsov palace. Peculiar holes...
* a collection of lesser known yet stunningly detailed sculptures
* Staglieno Graveyard, Most Beautiful Cemetery in Italy and possibly the world
* Steel beams in antiquities?
* In electronics, porcelain \(and ceramic derivatives\) is widely used for insulating material due to its excellent non-conductivity.
*Anointing oil and oriental wellness. Part 2 Alt title: "Traces of technologically advanced society in east Asia"
* The Ancient Airfield Yundum
*The 100 year old Russian warship still in service.
* Lets talk polygonal masonry
Giants
* *! Skeletons of unusual growth in the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo
* Peculiar Decorations Of The Medici
* let's find out where the Boyers in Russia came from. Boyar coat -large cloaks of honor passed down through the generations.
* Giant Skeletons in old etchings
* Continuing the theme of mythological creatures representing true creatures.
* giants on the streets of european cities
* giant roman shoe
*giants in the picture of leonardo da vinci *Boyars as decedents of Hyperborean giants; A growth of around 2.5 meters as indicated by the length of inherited clothing.
Religion
*Parallels between Shinto and Judaism
Catholics versus Cathars, or how the Cat-lovers competed with the Cat-worshipers
Geography
* Samandar, the second capital of Khazaria thought to have been destroyed 1000 years ago, was marked on European maps of 300 years ago at the site of modern Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan
*Judia is the ancient capital of Thailand. Maps and engravings show this
*Lakes Urmia and Van were connected on the old maps The medieval ‘New England’: a forgotten Anglo-Saxon colony on the north-eastern Black Sea coast
* Australia could be something else...
*! Continent of North America does not exist... or could it be a part of Asia?
* 17 maps of the World, Poland, Italy, Rome, Northern Europe and Germany \(1557-65\)
* 17th Cent. map \(Willem Blaeu\) indicates Tartarians settled in N. America
* why would maps of Africa from 1800's show more uncharted territory than those made in 1500's?
* Pompeii on maps from 1570?
* Clear evidence for the supposition that Giovanni Battista Piranesi was recording what he saw in the minutest detail and was not illustrating fantasy as is often claimed * Old newspaper articles on Chilaga
* Legendary city of Norumbega: could it be Washington, DC?
*Kings of Florida, and vanished white Native American Kingdoms
*! [Ruins of Old Earth \(Schoenung\)
Meta
*! StolenHistory.gov
Miscellaneous
*The purposefully forgotten crucifixion of the Antean king Boz
*Three Remarkable and Calamitous Travels through Italy, Greece, Livonia, Muscovy, Tartary, Media, Persia, East India, Japan and various other Districts
*https://www.reddit.com/CulturalLayecomments/lwcuoc/the\_unrivalled\_maestro\_tito\_livio\_burattini/
*Sultan Suleiman and King Solomon
*The most unusual icons of the “Holy Trinity”
*The Prussian school: all power to the canon
*114 years ago: Mammoth Recovered from Northern Siberia
* Why Are There Underground Jesuit Caves in Europe Filled with Egyptian and Islamic Art?
*Inconvenient questions about the war; Just a few queries the world should answer before we do it all once more
* TIL: The basic outline of history taught to every child in America since the mid 1900s was written by prominent communist and science fiction writer H.G Wells in his "The Outline of History"
* Blackened cityscapes of the world
* American cars with their soviet twins. Is there something weird here or is it just me?
Symbolism
* Smithsonian logo
Resources
*! https://www.davidrumsey.com/ *! archive Fomenko New chronology complete set
* Best Of CulturalLayer And Resource Guide, Amended- Again
* best links about cultural layer theory?
* Anatoly Fomenko - New Chronology - History; fiction or science? -- A fascinating Russian attempt \(playlist, English subtitles\) at seeking clarity through the distortions of modern "history"
* collection of images i've gathered depicting south american sites before or during their excavation or "reconstruction"
* Huge archive of StaBastion Fort images/pics/designs \(useful resource\)
* "Declassified photos from U2 planes are helping archaeologists unlock the past
* starforts.com
* starforts.org Heavily moderated
stolenhistory.net
stolenhistory.org Defunct www.wildheretic.com megaliths.org
Wikipedia
*New chronology (Fomenko))
*Phantom time conspiracy theory
*! Vérendrye stone (" Jesuit priests concluded that it was written in "Tatarian" writing."..."The Minnesota Historical Society has offered a $1000 reward for the stone's rediscovery.")
*! Invention Secrecy Act \(1951\)
* Ringwoodite is notable for being able to contain hydroxide ions \(oxygen and hydrogen atoms bound together\) Combined with evidence of its occurrence deep in the Earth's mantle, this suggests that there is from one to three times the world ocean's equivalent of water in the mantle transition zone.
* Hyperdiffusionism
* According to local folklore, the region was inhabited by Caeté Indians, who woke up one day to find their town covered by sand
* Gunnar Heinsohn
* Vitrified fort
* star forts
* Polygonal masonry
* ionic wind
* Sharing this wikipedia page to illustrate how, with the right eye, you can pick apart an mainstream article and get at the meat of whats been hidden.
other subs
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* *
defunct

Youtube channels
* New earth
* Wise Up
* Cognitive TV \(russian\)
* Philipp Druzhinin
* CONSPIRACY-R-US
* Deciphering The Devil's Details
* baltimore fats
* Static in the attic * streets of tartaria * Colm Gibney
*jon levi
Defunct
* [jacksfan](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFC1HJnadTPqc\_xy0gHvAIw) * Curious Life * Nik research * Mud Flood Mystery North
Missing/lost and found Tartaria Territory or Empire - Mudflood channel we miss you Uzbekistan and Maps of Tartaria - Mudflood channel we miss you
* posting livejournals in the comments

What I’m referring to is how each map uses a certain designs for the starting bases. For example, the design for the starting base in Vanilla can also be found on Up and Down 2v2. You can also choose a more unique design like the ones in Spire, Ledge Grab, or campaign missions. My favorites are the design of the frigate like on Castaways and (cough) Frigates as it can easily adapt to different strategies, as well as the design of the rear fort on Wingman as it tends to be very stable since the base of the fort uses 3-long struts instead of 2-longs.

In this post, we will cover the answers of TryHackMe Breaching Active Directory room in addition to demonstrating the concepts of Active Directory Penetration Testing.
Complete room answers can be found here.

Active Directory Credential Harvesting Methods

Before we can exploit AD misconfigurations for privilege escalation, lateral movement, and goal execution, you need initial access first. You need to acquire an initial set of valid AD credentials. Due to the number of AD services and features, the attack surface for gaining an initial set of AD credentials is usually significant.
When looking for that first set of credentials, we don’t focus on the permissions associated with the account; thus, even a low-privileged account would be sufficient. We are just looking for a way to authenticate to AD, allowing us to do further enumeration on AD itself.
The following techniques to recover AD credentials in a network:

• NTLM Authenticated Services
• LDAP Bind Credentials
• Authentication Relays
• Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
• Configuration Files

Understanding NTLM andNetNTLM

The set of security protocols called New Technology LAN Manager (NTLM) is what allows users to validate their identities in Active Directory. NetNTLM is a challenge-response-based method that leverages NTLM for authentication. The services on a network make extensive use of this authentication technique. NetNTLM-using services, however, may also be open to the internet. Listed below are a few well-known examples:

• Exchange (Mail) servers hosted internally that provide an Outlook Web App (OWA) login page.
• A server’s Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) service that is available over the internet.
• VPN endpoints that were connected to AD were made public.
• Web apps that use NetNTLM and are accessible over the internet.

NetNTLM, also often referred to as Windows Authentication or just NTLM Authentication, allows the application to play the role of a middle man between the client and AD. When a challenge is successfully performed, all authentication material is sent to a Domain Controller, and the application will authenticate the user.
This means that the application is authenticating on behalf of the user and not authenticating the user directly on the application itself. This prevents the application from storing AD credentials, which should only be stored on a Domain Controller.

Credentials Brute Force Attacks on Active Directory

These exposed services offer a great place to test credentials that have been found in other ways. To retrieve a first set of legitimate AD credentials, these services can also be accessed directly. If during our first red team recon we were able to recover information like working email addresses, we might try using these for brute force attacks.
We won’t be able to conduct a full brute-force attack because account lockout is implemented in the majority of AD environments. Rather, we must execute a password-spraying attack. Rather than trying a number of different passwords, which could set off the account lockout mechanism, we select one password, utilize it, and try to authenticate with every username we have collected. It should be mentioned, though, that because of how many unsuccessful authentication attempts these attacks will produce, they can be identified and detected.

Task Description

You have been provided with a list of usernames discovered during a red team OSINT exercise. The OSINT exercise also indicated the organisation’s initial onboarding password, which seems to be “Changeme123”. Although users should always change their initial password, we know that users often forget. We will be using a custom-developed script to stage a password spraying against the web application hosted at this URL: http://ntlmauth.za.tryhackme.com.
If you are using the AttackBox, the password spraying script and usernames textfile is provided under the /root/Rooms/BreachingAD/task3/ directory. We can run the script using the following command:
python ntlm_passwordspray.py -u -f -p -a
We provide the following values for each of the parameters:

• — Textfile containing our usernames — “usernames.txt”
• — Fully qualified domain name associated with the organisation that we are attacking — “za.tryhackme.com”
• — The password we want to use for our spraying attack — “Changeme123”
• — The URL of the application that supports Windows Authentication — “http://ntlmauth.za.tryhackme.com”

LDAP Pass-back Attack

NTLM authentication and LDAP authentication are comparable. On the other hand, the program authenticates the user’s credentials directly while using LDAP authentication. The program can query LDAP using its pair of AD credentials before confirming the credentials of the AD user.
Below services are example of services that use LDAP authentication

• Gitlab
• Jenkins
• Custom-developed web applications
• Printers
• VPNs

If you could gain a foothold on the correct host, such as a Gitlab server, it might be as simple as reading the configuration files to recover these AD credentials. These credentials are often stored in plain text in configuration files since the security model relies on keeping the location and storage configuration file secure rather than its contents.
LDAP Pass-back attacks can be performed when we gain access to a device’s configuration where the LDAP parameters are specified. This can be, for example, the web interface of a network printer. Usually, the credentials for these interfaces are kept to the default ones, such as admin:admin or admin:password .
Here, we won’t be able to directly extract the LDAP credentials since the password is usually hidden. However, we can alter the LDAP configuration, such as the IP or hostname of the LDAP server.
In an LDAP Pass-back attack, we can modify this IP to our IP and then test the LDAP configuration, which will force the device to attempt LDAP authentication to our rogue device. We can intercept this authentication attempt to recover the LDAP credentials.

Task Description

There is a network printer in this network where the administration website does not even require credentials. Navigate to http://printer.za.tryhackme.com/settings.aspx to find the settings page of the printer.
You can follow through with the room to execute this task’s commands and get the answers shown below.

Understanding Server Message Block (SMB)

Clients (like workstations) and servers (like file shares) can communicate with each other over the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. SMB controls everything in networks that make use of Microsoft AD, including remote administration and file sharing across networks. The SMB protocol is even responsible for the “out of paper” notification that appears on your computer when you attempt to print a document.
Nevertheless, it was determined that earlier iterations of the SMB protocol lacked adequate security. Numerous flaws and exploits that might be used to obtain code execution on devices or even retrieve credentials were found. Despite the fact that some of these vulnerabilities have been fixed in more recent protocol versions, organizations frequently do not mandate the use of these versions because outdated systems do not support them. We’ll examine two distinct attacks for SMB-based NetNTLM authentication:

• Since the NTLM Challenges can be intercepted, we can use offline cracking techniques to recover the password associated with the NTLM Challenge. However, this cracking process is significantly slower than cracking NTLM hashes directly.
• We can use our rogue device to stage a man in the middle attack, relaying the SMB authentication between the client and server, which will provide us with an active authenticated session and access to the target server.

Attacking Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

One Microsoft service that helps with automating the deployment of Microsoft Operating Systems (OS) is Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT). Since base images can be updated and maintained centrally, large organizations employ services like MDT to help deploy new images in their estate more efficiently.
The System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) from Microsoft, which controls all updates for all Microsoft services, operating systems, and apps, is typically connected with MDT. For fresh deployments, MDT is employed. In essence, it enables boot image preconfiguration and management for the IT staff. As a result, all users have to do to configure a new system is plug in a network wire; the rest happens on its own. They have the ability to modify the boot image in a number of ways, including pre-installing Office 365 and the preferred antivirus program for the company. Additionally, it may guarantee that the first installation to run uses the upgraded build.
One may consider SCCM to be MDT’s older brother and practically an extension of it. After the software is installed, what happens to it? In any case, SCCM handles this kind of patching. It enables all software installed throughout the estate to have its available upgrades reviewed by the IT team. Prior to centrally delivering these changes to every machine that has joined the domain, the team can additionally test them in a sandbox setting to make sure they are reliable. The IT team’s life is much made easier by it.
On the other hand, attackers may target anything that offers central management of infrastructure, such MDT and SCCM, in an effort to seize control of significant amounts of vital tasks within the estate. While there are other ways to setup MDT, for the sake of this job, we will only be focusing on a configuration known as Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) boot.
PXE boot is used by large organizations to enable new devices connected to the network to load and install the operating system directly over a network connection. PXE boot images can be created, managed, and hosted using MDT. Since PXE boot is typically integrated with DHCP, the host is permitted to request the PXE boot image and begin the network operating system installation procedure if DHCP grants an IP lease.
After the procedure is finished, the client will download the PXE boot image over a TFTP connection. The PXE boot image can be used for two distinct purposes:
After the PXE boot is finished, inject a privilege escalation vector, like a Local Administrator account, to obtain Administrative access to the OS. Use password scraping techniques to obtain the AD credentials that were used for the installation.

Task Description

The first piece of information regarding the PXE Boot preconfigure you would have received via DHCP is the IP of the MDT server. In our case, you can recover that information from the TryHackMe network diagram.
The second piece of information you would have received was the names of the BCD files. These files store the information relevant to PXE Boots for the different types of architecture. To retrieve this information, you will need to connect to this website: http://pxeboot.za.tryhackme.com. It will list various BCD files:
Usually, you would use TFTP to request each of these BCD files and enumerate the configuration for all of them. However, in the interest of time, we will focus on the BCD file of the x64 architecture. Copy and store the full name of this file. For the rest of this exercise, we will be using this name placeholder x64{7B...B3}.bcd since the files and their names are regenerated by MDT every day. Each time you see this placeholder, remember to replace it with your specific BCD filename. Note as well that if the network has just started, these file names will only update after 10 mintes of the network being active.
With this initial information now recovered from DHCP (wink wink), we can enumerate and retrieve the PXE Boot image. We will be using our SSH connection on THMJMP1 for the next couple of steps, so please authenticate to this SSH session using the following:
ssh thm@THMJMP1.za.tryhackme.com
and the password of Password1@ .
Follow along with the room’s instructions so that you get the answers shown below

Harvesting Active Directory Credentials from Config Files

Suppose you were lucky enough to cause a breach that gave you access to a host on the organisation’s network. In that case, configuration files are an excellent avenue to explore in an attempt to recover AD credentials.
Below configuration files usually contain many AD credentials.

• Web application config files
• Service configuration files
• Registry keys
• Centrally deployed applications

For example, McAfee embeds the credentials used during installation to connect back to the orchestrator in a file called ma.db. This database file can be retrieved and read with local access to the host to recover the associated AD service account and with below command we can open the database file
sqlitebrowser ma.db

Room Answers

Complete room answers can be found here.

Free Active Directory Penetration Testing Training

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLqM63j87R5p6BXQK3VCL-9ZLVyyXs_Au1&v=0pcWviZcFVU

So some context: I'm a STAHM and night student, he works the usually 6 am to 2/3 pm. We are getting married soon and have 2 kids. I don't know If I've just never noticed before (antidepressants, people pleasing problems, ptsd) or if this is new as of a couple years. But it really hurts and he really doesn't let me get a word in about it. He just walks away. So I wrote him a letter 😅 Baisically, if im frustrated, for example today, because toddler woke up at 5 am and refused all naps and I was unable to get anything done. I finally get him down and he wakes up to daddy coming home. Yes, super defeated but I wasn't mad at him. I heard him doing the "dammit, [my name]" and was kind of preparing for him scold me (happens a lot) so I paused the yoga video and came out. I admit I seemed frustrated but I stated I wasn't frustrated with him. He immediately started throwing that frustration back in my face, being short, unkind, simply...mean. when I confront him he says the usually "we'll I match energies so if you're going to be mad I'm going to be bad." I slipped and said "can't you just give me a hug? Don't you think that's kind of unkind and toxic?" To which he replied "well that's just my personality, so if it's toxic I don't know what to tell you. [Toddler yelling in crib] are you going to get him? I have to mow the lawn." And then he was out the door. In 3 months I'm going to married to my best friend, but he has just gotten a little meaner as the years have rolled on. I feel so lost right now.

am i able to select which letters of recommendation are sent to which schools? i’m having trouble with schools requiring different things in terms of letters of rec. for example, one program i am applying to requires a letter of recommendation from an undergrad science prof and one from a pce supervisor. others require at least one to be from a PA or other provider. some require 3, some accept up to 5. to fulfill all of these different requirements, i have about 5 letters being written. will these automatically be sent to every school i apply to or is there a way for me to only send certain letters to specific schools? i am just worried some schools will not want to bother reading extra letters, especially if they are not the strongest.

Hi everyone!
So im looking for physical props for my games, but i really suck at diy nor do i have the space to work on. Im also looking for something practical, not really looking to purchase a behemoth prop for it to be used once and then binned.
So i was wondering if there is any kind of digital shop that sold printable props. Letters with some sort of crypt or puzzle around them. Maps that lead nowhere. Something with a bit more detail than what i can do on short time.
For example, i was once given a letter with drawings of different characters around the edges, while the letter itself contained a riddle. The way to solve it was to bend the paper in a certain way so that 2 characters on opposite sides of the letter, now looked like they were interacting once pulled together.
Would something like this exist? easy to print, well drawn, fun to solve puzzles and riddles?

Hello,
I'm 28M and I visited my PCP about an issue unrelated to my thyroid. I requested some tests that my endocrinologist from my home country suggested. If this is relevant, my BMI in August 2023 was 32. Now it is 28.5.
Firstly, I had never tested my thyroid until a full body test in August 2023. Everything was completely normal then. Will post the trends of all the tests I have done so far.
August 2023: (Started calorie restriction to lose weight. Did not know much about the science, so restricted by almost 800 calories a day. Used to vape a lot, drink occasionally)
Free T4 - 1.3 (Ref - 0.8-1.9), Free T3 - 2.9 (Ref - 2.2-4.2), TSH - 2.080 (0.4 - 4.1)
In Jan 2024, I traveled back to my home country, and my timezones were upside down. I was working in the nights and sleeping in the mornings. Eating dinner around 3:30AM due to work in the US timezone. My endocrinologist said that the elevation in my TSH could be due to the lifestyle I was leading presently, and it needs to be checked again. I was also vaping/smoking at the time, and drinking as I was on vacation.
January 2024:
TSH - 7.775 uIU/mL (Reference range - 0.465 - 4.68), T4 total - 6.83 ug/dL (Ref Range: 5.53-11), Total T3 - 1.150 ng/mL (Ref Range - 0.97 - 1.69).
March 2024: (No more exercising, was putting on weight, vaping, and sleeping terribly. )
Free T3 - 3.6 pg/ml (Ref Range 2.2-4.2), Free T4 - 1.44 ng/dl (Ref Range - 0.8-1.9), TSH - 5.310 (Ref range 0.4 - 4.1)
April 2024: (Small changes here, started sleeping MUCH better, increased calorie intake, increased cardio and weight lifting, stopped vaping, stopped drinking)
T3 total - 86 (Ref range - 80-200), Free T4 - 1.4 (Ref range: 0.8-1.9), TSH - 4.16 (Ref range: 0.4 - 4.1), Thyroid Peroxidase AB - 38 IU/ML (Ref range - <=34 IU/ML).
My endocrinologist says - TSH is in a downward trend, and we cannot diagnose subclinical hypo. The best thing to do is monitor these levels and see the trend. The lifestyle changes contributing to these changes could indicate that it is temporary.
My PCP sent a message through a nurse saying he recommends that I start thyroid medication. No specifics yet, but as I am 28 (and I do not have much knowledge on these topics), I would prefer avoiding any form of hormone replacement for as long as possible.
Please provide relevant insights on these topics. And also provide some info on whether this is sufficient information to diagnose Hashimotos or other chronic forms of hypothyroidism. Also, let me know your thoughts on whether I am making a stupid decision to continue lifestyle changes and avoid medication.
Thanks.